Germany to shut all nuclear reactors, a move North America should follow ?

[klein]

Angela Merkel has committed to shutting down all of the country's nuclear reactors by 2022, a task said by one minister to be as mammoth as the project to reunite East and West Germany in 1990.

Monday's announcement, prompted by Japan's nuclear disaster, will make Germany the first major industrialised nation to go nuclear-free in decades. It gives the country just over 10 years to find alternative sources for 23% of its energy.

 

[klein]

I forgot to place the link to the above article :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/30/germany-to-shut-nuclear-reactors

 

[packageguy]

That might start a trend, and it would not surprise me.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The disaster in Japan had nothing to do with the nuclear reactor--it was all about the earthquake and resulting tsunami. I think Germany is overreacting.

 

[Lue C Fur]

Germany better start building windmills...LOL

 

[klein]

I just finished reading a German newspaper about this topic.
The world may be laughing now, but they will look at Germany how it was done.

Remember the moon race with Russia ?
Well, for Germany, it's the race to become nuclear free, and have green or alternative energy in the future.
They may even find themselves surpassing China, and becomming #1 in exports, again, because they have no other choice, and build the best alternative enery program in the world !

The article in it's own word, describes it as "German Cleverness" and the world will be looking at the great German engineers that made it possible, and take it as an example.

 

[moreluck]

Welcome to Germany, set your clock back 50 years!!!

 

[klein]

Welcome to Germany, set your clock back 50 years!!!

You better google that one ! Germany is the most technology advanced country on the planet !

You even drive a german car (BMW mini) !

Number 1 in exports of all countries on earth, too, until last year, when China took over the title !

Now, why can't mighty USA beat Germany in exports ? Who is 50 years behind ?

 

[moreluck]

If they are so advanced.....they wouldn't be shutting down all things nuclear!!!

 

[klein]

If they are so advanced.....they wouldn't be shutting down all things nuclear!!!

That is soley your opinion, google the city of Freiburg Germany. They don't use commen known energy at all. It's all green energy, and the city sells the surplus of energy back to the State grid.

It's all possible !

 

[brett636]

You better google that one ! Germany is the most technology advanced country on the planet !

You even drive a german car (BMW mini) !

Number 1 in exports of all countries on earth, too, until last year, when China took over the title !

Now, why can't mighty USA beat Germany in exports ? Who is 50 years behind ?

I was going to seriously look into buying a mini till I realized they had horrible reviews on quality. I would like to someday own a BMW, but I've read plenty of owner horror stories of people spending more on repairs for the car then they spent on the car makes me a bit hesitant.

 

[DS]

I think Germany is right.If the technology is available to evolve towards safety,its an obvious step back
but think about those affected by Chernobyl,3 mile island,etc...

 

[klein]

!

I think Germany is right.If the technology is available to evolve towards safety,its an obvious step back
but think about those affected by Chernobyl,3 mile island,etc...

I personally was effected by Chernobly, living and working in Germany at the time.
All the produce at grocery stores had to be taken off the shelves, due to radiation levels.

I was working at the dairy, and basically more then half the plant had to shut down, because even the milk contained radiation levels to high for human consumption.
Besides, all that, I had to deal with the feds every single day testing the milk quailty for radiation.

Terrible time all together.
Once it's unsafe to live, eat, drink and breath, yup, that's terrible !

And , I don't consider it a step backwards at all.
West of Ontario, there aren't any nuclear plants in Canada.
I see it as a step forward, and finally green energy will be taken seriously !

Do you consider an electric car going backwards, too ?

 

[brett636]

Germany is definitely overreacting to the japanese nuclear accident. What has happened there was mostly the weaknesses of an outdated reactor getting exploited in a natural disaster. Weaknesses that are not present in current generation four reactors. The Fukashima plant had all generation two reactors for comparison. Nuclear power is not perfect, but when you break it down to the number of people who have died in the creation of nuclear power versus that of coal or other sources nuclear power is by far the safest form of power generation we have available to us today. What some call "green" energy sources are really a pipe dream when you realize that the wind doesn't always blow, and the sun doesn't always shine, and relying on these kind of sources of energy just isn't practical for today's standard of living. Our choices are either build nuclear power plants now or rely even more heavily on fossil fuels for electricity in the future. Its just that simple.

I recall reading a few years ago about these self contained nuclear power stations that would only be about the size of a small tool shed and could power a one or two neighborhoods. These would be buried near the areas they would power, and would have to be dug up every decade or so in order to replace and refuel them. I would be ok with that if the government didn't add so much red tape to them that the cost would be too high to make it practical.

 

[moreluck]

I was going to seriously look into buying a mini till I realized they had horrible reviews on quality. I would like to someday own a BMW, but I've read plenty of owner horror stories of people spending more on repairs for the car then they spent on the car makes me a bit hesitant.

Mine's an '05. Never had a minute of trouble with it.........only 2 oil changes (I have extremely low miles on it). Love it. I don't know about the regular big BMW's....I can't get past the "Jaws" shark fin on top (radio antenna). Previously had 4 Mercedes. Our other cars have been Chevy (Tahoe & Blazer) and they'll have to last because GM (to me) died when it was rescued.

 

[moreluck]

I think Germany is right.If the technology is available to evolve towards safety,its an obvious step back
but think about those affected by Chernobyl,3 mile island,etc...

You can be right and still be affected. China runs rampant with the air pollution and it's the world's air.......like trying to make a no smoking section in a 9x9 room. If everybody's not involved, it's wasted efforts.

 

[klein]

I see it as another missed opportunity for the USA.
Germany was actually the largerst manufacturer of solar panels, before China took it over, too.

The cost of putting solar panels on every single highriser in the city is probably much less then buliding a nuclear plant. And you won't have nuclear waste that must be stored somewhere for thousands of years.
Baba says the sun doesn't always shine, I give him that, but energy can be stored, too !
And another source of electricity is gas made out of human and animal waste. Now that source you can definitly count one !

Just a quick answer to the question – why Germany? After all, the country is definitely not among the sunniest places on earth. Well, starting in 2000, Renewable Energies Laws (EEG) were passed, and the country has seen a remarkable growth in solar energy over the past 9 years. But Freiburg is unique. It is known as “Solar Valley,” due to the incredible investment into solar panels, which includes a famous solar train station and the Zero Emissions Hotel Victoria. You can even watch an exciting soccer match at a solar powered stadium.

 

[moreluck]

We just had an assisted living center , visible from our freeway, install solar panels over a large area of ground. It looks like hell!! What used to be greenery looks like a junk yard now. I had seen a few houses with roof mounted ones, but this was tacky looking. Now it needs a freeway wall so we don't have to look at that mess.

 

[klein]

Take a quick look at how it looks in Freiburg, looks neat and cool to me !

[video=youtube;6kW52Xj5KaA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kW52Xj5KaA[/video]

 

[klein]

If you have more time, watch this, too !

[video=youtube;dNizN2e_Hnc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNizN2e_Hnc[/video]